


The wind will reunite us

by soulhead



Series: Crossing path in every universe [3]
Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, M/M, Pirates, poor Lando
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:35:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25184146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soulhead/pseuds/soulhead
Summary: As the night carries on and Lando regains the small amount of energy he's been functioning on for weeks, he dreams of a life that isn't his own anymore. He vividly sees himself back in the privacy of their sleeping quarters, closely held by his lover in the hammock they used to share, cherished and protected like he's always been in Max's arms.Or, Lando - a young sailor enrolled on a merchant ship - is captured by pirates and must endure, alone and away of everything he's familiar with.
Relationships: Lando Norris/Max Verstappen
Series: Crossing path in every universe [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1964035
Comments: 2
Kudos: 51





	The wind will reunite us

Whenever their vessel docked at any port, Lando and his crewmates had a few set of rules to follow. One of them being that under no circumstances they should wander around alone. Merchant ships like theirs attracted unwanted attentions, especially one carrying a name as emblematic and renowned as the _Venture_ and which carried the emblem of the Kingdom of The Netherland on its sails and flag. 

And usually Lando dutifully followed that directive, always exploring the cities they traveled to accompanied by Max. It was their only time alone, their escape from the complete absence of privacy they had on the ship and a ritual they wouldn't miss for anything. This little habit of theirs usually brought a lot of teasing from the rest of their crew and if his lover was annoyed by it, it warmed Lando's heart, knowing none of them had any ill-intent behind those remarks.

Yet, when they had berthed in the port of a town on the coast of Argentina, Lando threw this one single rule out of his mind as soon as he heard a renowned blacksmith had a workshop there.

He knew it was stupid, but...This month marked the third year he and Max were in a romantic relationship. He just wanted to surprise him, to observe the scarlet tint of his cheeks he desperately tried to hid whenever he was taken off guard by a romantic gesture, as if the very idea of being loved and cherished was something his lover could still not entirely fathom.

So, he couldn't help but sneak out of their sleeping quarters as the sunrise was rising, a small bag filled with enough money to buy one of the intricate nautical spyglass he caught a glimpse of the day before in the shop's vitrine. Two weeks prior to their arrival in the town, Max had been trying to hide how upset he was when Daniel- their quartermaster- had accidentally broken the old spyglass he used to observe the horizon. But Lando saw right through him, knew his lover's interest in cartography and as he walked down the small alley of the town, he could gleefully already picture his lover's reaction.

However, this carefreeness didn't last long as it only took a few moments for him to notice a small band of ominous-looking mercenaries on his trail, observing with way too much interest the small sack of money he must have made a poor job of hiding under his arm. And just as he had started picking up his pace, arms had encircled him. He remembers fighting against those hands with all his might, hitting anything his fists could reach and trying to scramble away desperately. But it was no use and after being hit with a blunt object on the back of his head, the next thing he knew he was on a ship, locked up in a barred storage quarter.

Between this moment and now, he doesn't now how many days have passed. The quarter he's locked in are drown into an almost all-encompassing darkness, if not for the few rays of sunlight that transpire through the wooden grid over him. All he knows is that no matter how terrified and disoriented he's been since being captured, time passes agonizingly slow on this ship. He's spending his days being the whipping boy of a crew that seems to see him as their only entertainment, taunting him and demeaning him at any chances they get. Lando doesn't give them the joy to see through the facade of courage he keeps up and every day, new bruises appears on his skin from where he was slapped, kicked or punched.

 _He swears he only wanted to surprise Max and nothing more, he doesn't deserve any of this !_ he often finds himself repeating with his eyes screwed shut when everything around him become too much. It's what he's been reduced to, praying to any superior being of this world who will be willing to hear his mantra, as if it could trigger a miracle escape.

But today no one seems to listen and for what seems the 100th days, when he reopens his eyes he's still there, in the same dirty cell. One that belongs to the holds of a vessel so foreign, cold and frightening, one that he hasn’t been able to leave for too many weeks.

He longs for the gentle caress of the wind over his hair, for the sun to graze on his skin and to warm him. Most importantly, the yearning to be by his lover’s side sometime feels like it could threatens to eat him alive.

«Faster boy !» a harsh voice startles him back to the present time « You’ve still got half of the deck to cleanse ! » 

« Ye-es, of course Sir. » he mumbles to the boatswain who scrutinizes through the wooden hatch grate over him his every move since he was brought on this ship. Lando quickly rinses the dirty cloth he has in his hand and get back to scrub the wooden boards. After a few minutes, the heavy steps of the mercenary seems to be heading elsewhere and Lando lets out a shaky sigh of relief. 

« Poor bastard is still going to be at it for weeks ! » he hears one of the crew member guffaws distantly, followed by the rest of the nearby crewmates.

His cheeks grows red with the humiliation that boils inside him. The half-thorn rag and the bucket of mudded water he’s been given to complete this task are useless and only serve as a mean to torment him with countless of painstaking tasks. His muscles hurt from the repetitive motions and his knees have started to protest in pain after being for so long in contact with the rough wooden floor.

Yet, he doesn’t stop, afraid of the repercussions being caught a second time resting would bring to him.

Once the sunrise falls, one of the mercenary goes down the ladder to drag him back to the storage quarters that they've been locking him up every night in. He struggles against the painful grip the man has around his arm the whole way until he's shoved into his cell. Unable to steady himself, he falls heavily. His left arm takes most of the impact and he remains unmoving on the floor as he hears the door being locked behind him, his muscles too tired to stand up. However, a small smile contorts his face when he remembers he managed to hit the man in the face.

_Small victories._

When sleep finally claims him, he sees a pair of iris, intense and captivating, reminding him of the sea's azure. A soft glint shines in those eyes and for a brief moment he feels safe enough to slip into a deep slumber.

As the night carries on and Lando regains the small amount of energy he's been functioning on for weeks, he dreams of a life that isn't his own anymore. He vividly sees himself back in the privacy of their sleeping quarters, closely held by his lover in the hammock they used to share, cherished and protected like he's always been in Max's arms. Yet, if the sight is striking, a part of himself still ache knowing that none of this is real, but only a glorified reconstitution of the past.

Hours later, he's woken up abruptly by the angry sound of a mercenary screaming at him, throwing carelessly at him a meager portion of dry rice with a tomato that looks tainted by mold. He eats most of his plate without hesitation through, knowing that his portion of food are growing sparser.

What used to be three time a day serving has now been reduced to a meager meal once every other day.

It sometime keeps him up at night, the irrational fear that grows in him when he notices this change :

What will happen if those meals stop completely ?

What if the crew just...Get tired of using him as their scapegoat one day ?

Secluded in the storage quarters that serves him as a cell and with only the sulfuric smell of the canon as a company, he could just as well have never been made prisoner and the captain nor any of his crew would notice his death.

And it's with that thought that an idea is born into his brain. _Maybe being forgotten by the crew wouldn't be so bad_. Until now, he has always fought tooth and nails against the mercenaries, showing defiance even when he knew it would only bring him physical punishments. If he pretended to finally have been broken down by their games, then there's a possibility for them to drop their guard enough for him to...Well, for what he doesn't know, but it's all he's got for now and he can't afford more.

If anything, laying low will buy more time for the Venture to find him. And for that, he'll bear feeling like less than nothing, he's going to take every hit, every insult and threat thrown at him for as long as it will take.

The more he waits for an opportunity that might never come through, Lando become increasingly aware that his sanity is weakening. Entire hours of the day starts to slip past him. When he first noticed it, he thought his mind just went blank, shutting himself out of the helpless position he was stuck in and it terrified him.

He only realizes it wasn't the case when on one occasion, he was in his cell seconds ago and the sight of the dark and demure bulkheads vanished from his eyes. He thought he must have had passed out from exhaustion and must be dreaming, because suddenly he was back on the Venture, both his legs tangling out in the air as he was straddling the spar on the Venture's mast. Baffled by this sudden change of scenery, he watches himself struggling to untangle a rope that had snapped and was now dangling uselessly in the air. _Not a dream then, a memory._

«Do you think we'll always be here ?» He hears himself say. He can finally pinpoint that remembrance, one that date back to the last time their vessel got caught in a nasty storm that heavily damaged the Venture sails.

«Nah, once we're done with the cordage we'll go down, I heard Seb negotiating with the shipwright for the reparations.» he hears Max answers just two meters away of him, as he busies himself too with another rope.

«No, I mean...On this boat, sailing ? Since 1rst officer Raïkkonen said he might go back to his country soon...I mean, doesn't that scare you, if our Captain follows him too and we have to find a new vessel to sail with ?» he trails off, not knowing how to express his question

The Max from his memory must have heard the concern in his tone, because he's suddenly coming near him slowly.

«Doesn't scare me, no...» Max begins as he starts untangling a half-torn rope Lando had yet to see on his right. «I can see us already. In a small cabin we would have bought with the last remnant of our pay, by the sea in your hometown...You could finally teach me how to hunt...»

«You would be alright with staying on land ?» Lando had asked, surprised by Max's answer.

«Yeah, of course. We would be together, nothing scary in that, uh ?» his lover says with a gentle voice he knows is only reserved for him, before leaning to kiss him almost timidly on the lips.

And even months later, Lando remembers wondering in that instant whether the adrenaline that coursed through him was due to being dangling on the mast spar or to his lover's declaration.

The memory vanishes slowly and when he comes back to the present time, the night has already fallen around him.

Afterwards, he doesn't try to fight anymore against the errancies of his mind, but welcome them instead. If his brain is making him forget entire hours of the day by remembering his time alongside Max...It's doesn't seem so scary anymore.

Then one day, when he’s huddled up in his cell, hoping for his second meal of the day to come, the voice of the lookout clashes against the sound of the seagulls that was lulling him into a daze.

«Ship approaching ! »

For a moment, nothing follows. Lando scrambles to his feet to press his right ear to the bulkheads with the faint hope to hear what is happening outside. All he distinguishes is a deafening detonation coming from far away.

Then, after everything seemed suspended in time seconds ago, an immense blast projects him against the floor as the sound of cracked wood resonates painfully his head. When he slowly raises his head again, still dizzy with the aftershock, he watches petrified the burgeoning fire that starts next to a massive hole in the ship hull. For a moment, Lando doesn’t understand the implication of the sight in front of him, until he hears one of the mercenary scream over the pandemonium of frantic and panicked voices of the crew :

«They are trying to neutralize our canons ! Man your posts!». 

But it is too late judging by the second detonation he hears and almost instantly feels reverberate all around him in the ship.

Abruptly, his senses finally hit him in full force. Smoke infiltrates his lungs while burning his esophagus, just as the stifling heat grows with the flames heights.

Strenuously, he stands up and walks toward the wide hole caused by the projectile when it perforated the hull. The damage it did is serious and he feels his chest constricts instantly as he thinks about the potential damage their assailants could cause, should they decide to adopt a more aggressive boarding strategy. With trembling legs, he reaches the crack and inspect it rapidly before his attention is caught by the ship facing him. At first, the light of the sun blinds his eyes and it takes him a long time for his eyesight to adjust once again to it.

For a moment, he's afraid the only thing he'll see will be another vessel flying a pirate flag. There's no doubt then that it will be it for him : he'll die being caught between two ships controlled by mercenaries who won’t surrender until only one of them still floats.

Instead, he’s met with the sight of a ship, _his_ ship. The Venture is there, proud and imposing like it always has been, its white sails undulating serenely with the wind.

 _Maybe a deity has heard his plea after all,_ he marvels. The halo of light surrounding the shape of his vessel certainly makes the Venture outwordly and he revels for a moment in the sound of terror the mercenaries now emits.

 _It means Max hasn’t forgotten him_ ! He suddenly thinks, surprising himself when he realizes he had started to doubt his lover's dedication.

But the sound of cutlasses clashing against others and multiples voices he's more than familiar with can't possibly fool him, the entire Venture's crew has come to retrieve him.

And while he’s still trying to convince himself he’s not just having a vivid hallucination, a loud snap behind him startles him. When he turns himself, Lando realizes with horror the fire has started to eat away the deck and that entire boards have started collapsing. Frozen in spot by the panic that seizes him, he watches helplessly as the fire grows and grows before turning his heels to it.

He's trapped, the door on the other side of the storage quarter remains locked by a heavy-looking padlock.

 _There’s only one way out_ , he thinks as he clears off his frantic mind and looks through the crack caused by the cannonball.

Lando passes an unsteady foot through the hole before leaning to look down at the sea below him. The sight gives him vertigo, there’s at least 20 meters between where he stands and the agitated ocean.

He could wait for his crew and Max to reach him, but his voice,weakened by misuse doesn’t carry his plea for help far enough and he can’t afford staying in his cell anymore, not when his lungs burn with the smoke of the fire.

So he jumps and in his free-fall he has barely the time to register the way his stomach twists in his abdomen before his body hits the water brutally. His muscles starts protesting the second he starts moving his legs and arms to hold himself on the surface of the sea.

 _And now, what ?_ He asks himself as he realizes he might have just jumped, trying to escape being burned alive, only to drown. In his panic, he watches the hull of the Venture and see no spot to climb on. _God, he's so stupid !_

« Max ! Daniel ! I’m here ! » he tries to scream for help when the crest of a wave hits him by surprise and salt water enters his mouth, making him cough violently.

He’s not going to survive if he stays in the middle of the ocean like that, Lando realizes before his eyes catches the sight of his ship’s anchor. 

A desperate idea germs in his brain, so he starts swimming toward the front of the ship.

The current and the waves facilitates his swim and he reaches the chain of his ship’s anchor rapidly. He grabs it with both his arms and catches his breath for a few moments as he watches clouds of dark smoke float from the vessel he just escaped.

Once he regains controls of his breath, he starts climbing up the chain slowly with only the strength of his arms and his legs to push himself up. The chain’s big links allows him to have a steady grip and he makes his ascension painfully.

He's going to make it. He _has_ to.

When he finally reaches the top of the chain, his arms hurts and feels like they are about to give up on him at any moment. He tries to reach the deck's barrier, which is now just a meter ahead of him. Lando almost ends up falling down in the process but he cries in relief when he realizes he can make it. With every last ounce of strength he has, he hoists his body over the barrier, his arms trembling with the exertion before he lets himself fall abruptly on the deck of the ship.

For a moment, Lando doesn’t even realize where he lays. All his attention his solely focused on trying to stop his head from feeling so dizzy and to sooth the pain in his left side where he hit the deck.

Distantly, he notices that the battle has died down to only a few shouts.

His chest's rise and fall having finally started slowing down, he tries to stand up to look for any member of their crew who remained on the ship.

His limbs do not cooperate at all and he can’t muster any more strength. He lays down on the deck, unmoving if not for his fingers tracing one of the wooden board underneath him.

Tears then starts to suddenly well up in his eyes.

_He’s made it back._

With that thought, he allows them to fall down on his cheeks, something he hasn’t done for too long. Back on the mercenaries ship, he wouldn't allow them to slip through his eyes, afraid that by crying his resolves would crumble. _But it's over, now._

After an indefinite amount of time, he hears numerous steps on the other side of the deck. His heart speeds up considerably at the same time. _His lover is so close, closer than he has been in months._

«Max, we'll find him, I promise you ! »

«But Captain, we....We’ve been trailing this ship for too long...He should have been here.» he hears them discuss. Max sounds defeated, so unlike the determined and self-assured tone that is so characteristic of him.

Lando tries to call out for them, but can only manage to whisper his lover’s name brokenly. He tries again and again until his voice grows stronger and finally, he hears a flurries of steps approaching, then a soft hand is on his cheek.

A small smile bloom on his face as his eyes plunge into the same blue gaze that has been inhabiting his dreams for so long.

Except that for once, those are real, watching over him so worryingly, so lovingly.

Exhaustion catching up to him, Lando allows himself to lean into Max unmistakable warm and soothing hand on his cheek and to close his eyes.

He has been deprived of this touch for too long, to the point that he now feels like he's become light as the wind from a simple contact with Max The heaviness of his tired muscles forgotten, he starts wondering if he's still next to his lover or if the air hasn't simply carried him away. Maybe he's joined the seagulls swirling around the mast of the Venture, he ponders.

The rational part of his mind knows those are the raving of a mind and body pushed beyond its limit. Right now through, he doesn't care about the state of his sanity. All he knows is that either in his lover's arms or in the air, he's safe.

_He's home._


End file.
